Kids to eat free in Newport schools

10:18 PM,
Jun. 29, 2012

Ben Strausbaugh, who will be a kindergarten student at Newport Primary School, digs into taco dip at the free summer lunch program at Newport Middle School. A pilot government program providing free breakfast and lunch to schools with high poverty rates, including Newport Independent Schools, will go into effect this coming school year. That means every student in the district will receive free breakfast and lunch at school every day.

Written by

William Croyle

All students in Newport Independent Schools, regardless of income, will get free breakfast and lunch every school day beginning this fall.

The district is participating in the Community Eligibility Option program, part of President Obama's Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

The program provides free meals to all students in schools in which 40 percent or more of the students receive food stamps or some other form of public aid. All three schools in Newport easily exceed that percentage. As a district, 86 percent are living at or below the federal poverty level. ...